Octopus Overlords

Turfed is still a thing.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Sun Sep 18, 2022 7:50 pm ESPN

Herm Edwards' tenure as Arizona State's football coach began with bravado, featured dollops of optimism and ultimately ended on Sunday amid a spiral of off-field issues and bad football.

Under the dark cloud of a significant NCAA investigation and in the wake of both a staff roster exodus, Edwards' time as coach ended like so many others in college football -- with a humiliating loss.

Arizona State announced on Sunday that the school was making "a change in leadership" by "mutual agreement," according to athletic director Ray Anderson. In reality, an embarrassing 30-21 loss to Eastern Michigan on Saturday -- at the hands of EMU's back-up quarterback -- made Edwards' inevitable departure a reality.

Edwards finishes his tenure at Arizona State (1-2) at 26-20 with one bowl win in five years. His time there will be remembered much more for the antics and issues off the field, as the NCAA investigation led to five full-time coaches leaving the staff, including both coordinators. The roster soon atrophied, as the program's best quarterback, running back, defensive lineman, linebacker and two best wide receivers transferred out in the last year.

Go EMUs!!! Though I have to admit I've never been interested in watching a single game. I remember when "we" made it to the Sweet 16 while I was attending. I watched a little bit of that game on TV. That's it for me and my alma mater sports.

LordMortis wrote: ↑Mon Sep 19, 2022 12:15 pm
Go EMUs!!! Though I have to admit I've never been interested in watching a single game. I remember when "we" made it to the Sweet 16 while I was attending. I watched a little bit of that game on TV. That's it for me and my alma mater sports.

I'll always root for Eastern and Western. Spent a lot of time in/know people in/who went to Kzoo and Ypsi. Always happy when they have something to root for.

I always take interest in the Wolverines, the Spartans, the Chippewas, and the Broncos but I wouldn't say I root for any of them unless they are doing something uncharacteristically special like when the Broncos played in the Cotton Bowl... Or when someone is playing THEOSU or Notre Dame.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Mon Sep 19, 2022 11:47 am We've now moved from "tarmacced" to "end zoned".

The trap game between Okie St and Utah turned into a trapdoor game.

Kudos to UMass!

UMass Athletics wrote:Our game vs. Liberty on October 8 will be #PrideDay

I mean, I would have been disappointed if we lost to San Diego State too, but this seems a bit extreme.

Utah student arrested for threatening to detonate a nuclear reactor if Utah lost to SDSU

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Wed Sep 21, 2022 11:21 pm I mean, I would have been disappointed if we lost to San Diego State too, but this seems a bit extreme.

Utah student arrested for threatening to detonate a nuclear reactor if Utah lost to SDSU

Typical Pac-12 fan reaction. At least one Utah fan understands how important winning is.

Apollo wrote: ↑Wed Sep 21, 2022 11:33 pm

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Wed Sep 21, 2022 11:21 pm I mean, I would have been disappointed if we lost to San Diego State too, but this seems a bit extreme.

Utah student arrested for threatening to detonate a nuclear reactor if Utah lost to SDSU

Typical Pac-12 fan reaction. At least one Utah fan understands how important winning is.

It's the only way to be sure!

Utah won in Tempe (a place that has been a bugger for us historically), but at a massive cost. All-everything TE Brant Kuithe went down in the first half with what looks to be an ACL injury. Was in street clothes, on crutches, with a huge brace and ice packs for the rest of the game. Coach Whit all but confirmed that he's out for the season. Happened on a random spin move too, nothing that looked too bad.

That's a huge blow to this team. I would have put him as the 2nd most important player, only behind QB Rising. I had us down at 10-2 before the season. With Kuithe out, I'm revising that to either 9-3 or 8-4.

UCLA made it through the soft non-con and weak opener against the worst team in the Pac-12 at 4-0, with three name three score games and 1 concerning game.

With Michigan state getting smacked again this weekend, but UW still undefeated, it's going to be a really interesting game between undefeated teams Friday night at the Rose Bowl.

The winner is automatically a Pac-12 contender barring a catastrophic injury, and the loser will either be exposed, or it will be an amazing, but heartbreaking loss.

Contender or pretender time. For as weak as the UCLA schedule has been, we're the only team which has to play all 5 of the remaining Pac-12 teams undefeated in conference, including all four ranked teams.

PS. The news about kuithe sucks.

PPS. Colorado looked better than they have all year with the true frosh at qb. They may actually manage to win a game or two with him.

Alabama begins a 3 week vs ranked teams schedule. Arkansas away. TAMU at home. Tennessee away. This is probably the toughest gauntlet for us of the season. Miss State is after TN, but are currently not ranked.

msduncan wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 1:18 pm Alabama begins a 3 week vs ranked teams schedule. Arkansas away. TAMU at home. Tennessee away. This is probably the toughest gauntlet for us of the season. Miss State is after TN, but are currently not ranked.

UCLA too - UW Friday Night, then Utah at home, then a bye, then at Oregon.

Fresno State should win this week, even with the back up QB. We play UConn.

I do plan on setting aside time to watch the UCLA-Wash game Friday night. I would normally root for UCLA but I like DeBoer, and I would like to see him return Washington to some kind of meaningful existence. It would be good for the conference as well.

msduncan wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 1:18 pm Alabama begins a 3 week vs ranked teams schedule. Arkansas away. TAMU at home. Tennessee away. This is probably the toughest gauntlet for us of the season. Miss State is after TN, but are currently not ranked.

Any one of those 3 in a vacuum I'd feel pretty confident about Alabama winning. Those 3 in a row with 2 on the road? That's tough - especially thinking about coming out for the second half at Tennessee - how much will they have left in tank?

Michigan continues to be a Team of Mystery. The non-conference schedule was a tire fire stuffed into a dumpster fire. Maryland was the first opponent with a pulse and the game was a lot closer than anticipated. Michigan overrated? Maryland underrated? Both? Just an anomaly? Now we go to Iowa, which has one of the worst offenses since the development of the forward pass. Seems like it'd be easy enough, but! Iowa is on a 5 game winning streak against top 5 opponents at home. Could be dicey.

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 2:38 pm ...Michigan continues to be a Team of Mystery. The non-conference schedule was a tire fire stuffed into a dumpster fire. Maryland was the first opponent with a pulse and the game was a lot closer than anticipated. Michigan overrated? Maryland underrated? Both? Just an anomaly? Now we go to Iowa, which has one of the worst offenses since the development of the forward pass. Seems like it'd be easy enough, but! Iowa is on a 5 game winning streak against top 5 opponents at home. Could be dicey.

I could be wrong, but my initial impression of this season is that a lot of "lesser" teams are playing better than expected while some of the big names are curiously underperforming. Of course this happens to some degree every year, but this year it seems more widespread to me.

Scuzz wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 2:06 pm Fresno State should win this week, even with the back up QB. We play UConn.

I do plan on setting aside time to watch the UCLA-Wash game Friday night. I would normally root for UCLA but I like DeBoer, and I would like to see him return Washington to some kind of meaningful existence. It would be good for the conference as well.

I watched the week zero Uconn/Utah St game, and it was pretty much the same Jim Mora team. Fired up and playing hard, but stupid. Bad penalties, poor tackling, etc. I think it may be getting worse since then too.

Apollo wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 3:04 pm

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 2:38 pm ...Michigan continues to be a Team of Mystery. The non-conference schedule was a tire fire stuffed into a dumpster fire. Maryland was the first opponent with a pulse and the game was a lot closer than anticipated. Michigan overrated? Maryland underrated? Both? Just an anomaly? Now we go to Iowa, which has one of the worst offenses since the development of the forward pass. Seems like it'd be easy enough, but! Iowa is on a 5 game winning streak against top 5 opponents at home. Could be dicey.

I could be wrong, but my initial impression of this season is that a lot of "lesser" teams are playing better than expected while some of the big names are curiously underperforming. Of course this happens to some degree every year, but this year it seems more widespread to me.

Parity perhaps? Maybe we are starting to arrive at the long searched for parity.

msduncan wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 11:07 am

Apollo wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 3:04 pm

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 2:38 pm ...Michigan continues to be a Team of Mystery. The non-conference schedule was a tire fire stuffed into a dumpster fire. Maryland was the first opponent with a pulse and the game was a lot closer than anticipated. Michigan overrated? Maryland underrated? Both? Just an anomaly? Now we go to Iowa, which has one of the worst offenses since the development of the forward pass. Seems like it'd be easy enough, but! Iowa is on a 5 game winning streak against top 5 opponents at home. Could be dicey.

I could be wrong, but my initial impression of this season is that a lot of "lesser" teams are playing better than expected while some of the big names are curiously underperforming. Of course this happens to some degree every year, but this year it seems more widespread to me.

Parity perhaps? Maybe we are starting to arrive at the long searched for parity.

No, just normal early season upsets.

msduncan wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 11:07 am

Apollo wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 3:04 pm

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 2:38 pm ...Michigan continues to be a Team of Mystery. The non-conference schedule was a tire fire stuffed into a dumpster fire. Maryland was the first opponent with a pulse and the game was a lot closer than anticipated. Michigan overrated? Maryland underrated? Both? Just an anomaly? Now we go to Iowa, which has one of the worst offenses since the development of the forward pass. Seems like it'd be easy enough, but! Iowa is on a 5 game winning streak against top 5 opponents at home. Could be dicey.

I could be wrong, but my initial impression of this season is that a lot of "lesser" teams are playing better than expected while some of the big names are curiously underperforming. Of course this happens to some degree every year, but this year it seems more widespread to me.

Parity perhaps? Maybe we are starting to arrive at the long searched for parity.

Transfer portal hits/misses, coaches who can't fold transfers in as well could also be an issue. Smaller schools don't get the same headcases as may be in the higher level transfer portal and have more continuity, especially with the extra covid year of eligibility.

Also, coaches still learning that if you want to keep your players out of the portal, you kind of have to re-recruit them every year. Karl Dorrell completely failed at that this year, admitted it, and now has arguably the worst P5 team around this year - all their good players bolted and he wasn't on top of that.

As we've seen in hoops (thinking expressly of Dana Altman's faceplant last year), you can have success in the transfer portal for years, as he has done, but it can also go south, even with talented players and a coach used to developing transfers.

Scuzz wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 12:48 pm No, just normal early season upsets.

Probably, but I'm not entirely convinced that we aren't seeing a bit of parity creep into college football. To me it's like sea-level rise: It's happening continuously and quietly, but every now and then a big event wakes everybody up to what is going on. On the other hand, I don't think we are ever going to see NFL-style parity in college football, nor do I think that is desirable. However, I do think more parity between the top 25-30 college football programs would be a plus for fans everywhere. Will we ever get there? I still think it could happen, in 20 years or so...

Apollo wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 2:57 pm

Scuzz wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 12:48 pm No, just normal early season upsets.

Probably, but I'm not entirely convinced that we aren't seeing a bit of parity creep into college football. To me it's like sea-level rise: It's happening continuously and quietly, but every now and then a big event wakes everybody up to what is going on. On the other hand, I don't think we are ever going to see NFL-style parity in college football, nor do I think that is desirable. However, I do think more parity between the top 25-30 college football programs would be a plus for fans everywhere. Will we ever get there? I still think it could happen, in 20 years or so...

UCLA and USC being undefeated going into week 5 will do a lot to make it seem more that way...

There's just a lot of talent out there. You have kids training since toddlerhood. Top schools can only roster so many players.

But I wouldn't call it parity. The top teams will still win 90% of the time in any given matchup.

Apollo wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 2:57 pm

Scuzz wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 12:48 pm No, just normal early season upsets.

Probably, but I'm not entirely convinced that we aren't seeing a bit of parity creep into college football. To me it's like sea-level rise: It's happening continuously and quietly, but every now and then a big event wakes everybody up to what is going on. On the other hand, I don't think we are ever going to see NFL-style parity in college football, nor do I think that is desirable. However, I do think more parity between the top 25-30 college football programs would be a plus for fans everywhere. Will we ever get there? I still think it could happen, in 20 years or so...

As much as I would like to see some kind of parity among the top 20 teams at least when it comes to the end year it is pretty much the same 4-5 teams being talked about. Even this year.

Scuzz wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 7:59 pm

Apollo wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 2:57 pm

Scuzz wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 12:48 pm No, just normal early season upsets.

Probably, but I'm not entirely convinced that we aren't seeing a bit of parity creep into college football. To me it's like sea-level rise: It's happening continuously and quietly, but every now and then a big event wakes everybody up to what is going on. On the other hand, I don't think we are ever going to see NFL-style parity in college football, nor do I think that is desirable. However, I do think more parity between the top 25-30 college football programs would be a plus for fans everywhere. Will we ever get there? I still think it could happen, in 20 years or so...

As much as I would like to see some kind of parity among the top 20 teams at least when it comes to the end year it is pretty much the same 4-5 teams being talked about. Even this year.

Maybe. Alabama looked very mediocre in their only true road game thus far. Let's see what happens in Fayetteville this weekend...

Michigan is in the top 10 despite playing nobody this year. Clemson had a really tough game v Wake, with NC State who beat them last year up next. Ohio St has yet to play anyone of consequence (Penn St looks loaded, Michigan will be tough at the end of the year, and the B1G grind usually makes the Buckeyes cough up a game, if not 2. Oklahoma has already lost. Georgia (of the usual suspects) is the only team with a quality win who looks dominant thus far.

As of now, it's too early to tell. ESPN will *ALWAYS* hype the usual 4-5 teams at the beginning of the season (and USC, if they can).

I'm just glad my boys are once again being mentioned. We'll find out in the next 3 weeks or so how relevant they should be.

Sent from my SM-S906U1 using Tapatalk

More smoke that the B10 will be going after Oregon, Washington, Stanford, and Cal with Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and ASU moving to the B12.

Whatever they do, I just wish they'd hurry up and do it.

Pyperkub wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 8:40 pm Ohio St has yet to play anyone of consequence (Penn St looks loaded, Michigan will be tough at the end of the year, and the B1G grind usually makes the Buckeyes cough up a game, if not 2.

In tOSU's defense, they started the schedule with #5 Notre Dame and can't really be faulted for the fact that ND decided to blow up their own season by losing to Marshall at home the next week.

Speaking of which...while the top 5 or so teams may be able to recruit well enough that nobody can consistently compete with them, where you really see parity in college football is in the 10-60 range.

Marshall beats Notre Dame
Texas A&M loses to Appalachian State
Tulane beats KSU that beats Oklahoma
Georgia Southern beats Nebraska
Texas plays Alabama even and then loses to Texas Tech

We're used to seeing a game or two like that every season. Lots of those type of upsets.

Skinypupy wrote:More smoke that the B10 will be going after Oregon, Washington, Stanford, and Cal with Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and ASU moving to the B12.

Whatever they do, I just wish they'd hurry up and do it.

There's no real information about actual moves, that article is mostly speculation.

Everything depends on Notre Dame, and the article doesn't mention them at all.

IMHO, if ND gets B1G money from NBC, things will be pretty status quo until the next round of TV contracts in 5 or so years (esp with CFP expansion) , tho the Pac-12 may go back to 12 with SDSU +1 (and/or maybe see if BYU like a Pac-12 offer better).

Unless the Pac-12 deal is really, really bad, and Oregon /UW and maybe some others decide that they will take a lesser percentage of TV revenue to go to the B1G. But as of now, I don't see the B1G adding anyone at an equal TV share if ND isn't part of the package.

And I do think Utah is best off sticking with the Pac-12 unless Oregon/UW get supremely greedy and piss of everyone else in the conference. I don't see a ton of value going to a Big-12 without TX /OU and believe that the Pac-12 teams have better TV negotiating leverage than the new Big-12.

Pyperkub wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 8:40 pm

Scuzz wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 7:59 pm

Apollo wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 2:57 pm

Scuzz wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 12:48 pm No, just normal early season upsets.

Probably, but I'm not entirely convinced that we aren't seeing a bit of parity creep into college football. To me it's like sea-level rise: It's happening continuously and quietly, but every now and then a big event wakes everybody up to what is going on. On the other hand, I don't think we are ever going to see NFL-style parity in college football, nor do I think that is desirable. However, I do think more parity between the top 25-30 college football programs would be a plus for fans everywhere. Will we ever get there? I still think it could happen, in 20 years or so...

As much as I would like to see some kind of parity among the top 20 teams at least when it comes to the end year it is pretty much the same 4-5 teams being talked about. Even this year.

Maybe. Alabama looked very mediocre in their only true road game thus far. Let's see what happens in Fayetteville this weekend...

Michigan is in the top 10 despite playing nobody this year. Clemson had a really tough game v Wake, with NC State who beat them last year up next. Ohio St has yet to play anyone of consequence (Penn St looks loaded, Michigan will be tough at the end of the year, and the B1G grind usually makes the Buckeyes cough up a game, if not 2. Oklahoma has already lost. Georgia (of the usual suspects) is the only team with a quality win who looks dominant thus far.

As of now, it's too early to tell. ESPN will *ALWAYS* hype the usual 4-5 teams at the beginning of the season (and USC, if they can).

Let me spit some facts out here for the group regarding Alabama the past 2 seasons:

Last 5 true road games for Bama:

2021 at No. 11 Florida — W, 31-29
2021 at Texas A&M — L, 41-38
2021 at MSU — W, 49-9
2021 at Auburn — W, 24-22 (4 OT)
2022 at Texas — W, 20-19

Except MSU, Bama has either narrowly escaped and one of them they lost.

Let's look at penalties in these games:

2021 at No. 11 Florida — 11 penalties, 75 yards
2021 at Texas A&M — 8 penalties, 82 yards
2021 at MSU — 6 penalties, 60 yards
2021 at Auburn — 11 penalties, 129 yards
2022 at Texas — 15 penalties (Saban-era record), 100 yards

So Alabama, for the past two seasons with this OC and DC that all the fans universally hate -- have played sloppy and unprepared on the road. (MSU exception). None of us can figure out why Coach Saban wants to hang his hat on these two coordinators. It's baffling. We have the talent -- hell, we are once again currently #1 in recruiting and will again finish in the top 3 most likely. The weakness we have right now is at the coordinator positions.

Scuzz wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 12:48 pm

msduncan wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 11:07 am

Apollo wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 3:04 pm

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 2:38 pm ...Michigan continues to be a Team of Mystery. The non-conference schedule was a tire fire stuffed into a dumpster fire. Maryland was the first opponent with a pulse and the game was a lot closer than anticipated. Michigan overrated? Maryland underrated? Both? Just an anomaly? Now we go to Iowa, which has one of the worst offenses since the development of the forward pass. Seems like it'd be easy enough, but! Iowa is on a 5 game winning streak against top 5 opponents at home. Could be dicey.

I could be wrong, but my initial impression of this season is that a lot of "lesser" teams are playing better than expected while some of the big names are curiously underperforming. Of course this happens to some degree every year, but this year it seems more widespread to me.

Parity perhaps? Maybe we are starting to arrive at the long searched for parity.

No, just normal early season upsets.

The Transfer portal will giveth and the transfer portal will taketh away. My guess is that high level teams will be more delicate when it comes to depth and things will be more interesting come December and the traditionally highest level outdoor cold weather teams will suffer the most. tOSU will be the benchmark, I suspect, if injuries take hold. I believe they had to replace 10% of their roster due to the portal. I'd take glee in that thought but I don't wish injury on people.

LordMortis wrote: ↑Thu Sep 29, 2022 10:15 am

Scuzz wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 12:48 pm

msduncan wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 11:07 am

Apollo wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 3:04 pm

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 2:38 pm ...Michigan continues to be a Team of Mystery. The non-conference schedule was a tire fire stuffed into a dumpster fire. Maryland was the first opponent with a pulse and the game was a lot closer than anticipated. Michigan overrated? Maryland underrated? Both? Just an anomaly? Now we go to Iowa, which has one of the worst offenses since the development of the forward pass. Seems like it'd be easy enough, but! Iowa is on a 5 game winning streak against top 5 opponents at home. Could be dicey.

I could be wrong, but my initial impression of this season is that a lot of "lesser" teams are playing better than expected while some of the big names are curiously underperforming. Of course this happens to some degree every year, but this year it seems more widespread to me.

Parity perhaps? Maybe we are starting to arrive at the long searched for parity.

No, just normal early season upsets.

The Transfer portal will giveth and the transfer portal will taketh away. My guess is that high level teams will be more delicate when it comes to depth and things will be more interesting come December and the traditionally highest level outdoor cold weather teams will suffer the most. tOSU will be the benchmark, I suspect, if injuries take hold. I believe they had to replace 10% of their roster due to the portal. I'd take glee in that thought but I don't wish injury on people.

I don't think the transfer portal is as much of a game changer as most people suspected originally. Sure, you've got some clear, high-profile successes here and there. MSU hit it out of the park when they got KWIII last year, and Michigan got the Rimington winning center from UVA for his last year of eligibility this year (and it's working out great so far), but it seems like the majority of players transferring are those who couldn't break the rotation at their current school (i.e., maybe not as great as everyone thought coming out of school) or players up-transferring from G5 schools who have to adapt to the higher competition level of P5 schools. I suspect that will continue - a handful of successes counterbalanced by a whole lot of meh.

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Thu Sep 29, 2022 11:01 am I don't think the transfer portal is as much of a game changer as most people suspected originally. Sure, you've got some clear, high-profile successes here and there. MSU hit it out of the park when they got KWIII last year, and Michigan got the Rimington winning center from UVA for his last year of eligibility this year (and it's working out great so far), but it seems like the majority of players transferring are those who couldn't break the rotation at their current school (i.e., maybe not as great as everyone thought coming out of school) or players up-transferring from G5 schools who have to adapt to the higher competition level of P5 schools. I suspect that will continue - a handful of successes counterbalanced by a whole lot of meh.

I think it's a give and take and think much of the take is from the top most teams depth charts. That creates a vulnerability when injury takes a toll and I suspect outdoor cold weather teams are the most subject to injury. So say you are tOSU and you lose... Internet says... 16 players to the portal but only pull in 3 that means you now have 13 next man up further down the roster to fill in and 13 people to discover....

For my thunk, it's not about successes in portal hunts, rather it's about the competence of your next man when you need to rely on him.

https://www.dispatch.com/story/sports/c ... 544100002/

msduncan wrote: ↑Thu Sep 29, 2022 9:55 am

Pyperkub wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 8:40 pm

Scuzz wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 7:59 pm

Apollo wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 2:57 pm

Scuzz wrote: ↑Wed Sep 28, 2022 12:48 pm No, just normal early season upsets.

Probably, but I'm not entirely convinced that we aren't seeing a bit of parity creep into college football. To me it's like sea-level rise: It's happening continuously and quietly, but every now and then a big event wakes everybody up to what is going on. On the other hand, I don't think we are ever going to see NFL-style parity in college football, nor do I think that is desirable. However, I do think more parity between the top 25-30 college football programs would be a plus for fans everywhere. Will we ever get there? I still think it could happen, in 20 years or so...

As much as I would like to see some kind of parity among the top 20 teams at least when it comes to the end year it is pretty much the same 4-5 teams being talked about. Even this year.

Maybe. Alabama looked very mediocre in their only true road game thus far. Let's see what happens in Fayetteville this weekend...

Michigan is in the top 10 despite playing nobody this year. Clemson had a really tough game v Wake, with NC State who beat them last year up next. Ohio St has yet to play anyone of consequence (Penn St looks loaded, Michigan will be tough at the end of the year, and the B1G grind usually makes the Buckeyes cough up a game, if not 2. Oklahoma has already lost. Georgia (of the usual suspects) is the only team with a quality win who looks dominant thus far.

As of now, it's too early to tell. ESPN will *ALWAYS* hype the usual 4-5 teams at the beginning of the season (and USC, if they can).

Let me spit some facts out here for the group regarding Alabama the past 2 seasons:

Last 5 true road games for Bama:

2021 at No. 11 Florida — W, 31-29
2021 at Texas A&M — L, 41-38
2021 at MSU — W, 49-9
2021 at Auburn — W, 24-22 (4 OT)
2022 at Texas — W, 20-19

Except MSU, Bama has either narrowly escaped and one of them they lost.

Let's look at penalties in these games:

2021 at No. 11 Florida — 11 penalties, 75 yards
2021 at Texas A&M — 8 penalties, 82 yards
2021 at MSU — 6 penalties, 60 yards
2021 at Auburn — 11 penalties, 129 yards
2022 at Texas — 15 penalties (Saban-era record), 100 yards

So Alabama, for the past two seasons with this OC and DC that all the fans universally hate -- have played sloppy and unprepared on the road. (MSU exception). None of us can figure out why Coach Saban wants to hang his hat on these two coordinators. It's baffling. We have the talent -- hell, we are once again currently #1 in recruiting and will again finish in the top 3 most likely. The weakness we have right now is at the coordinator positions.

One of the things I find astonishing is that there are a bunch of UCLA fans who want to boot Chip Kelly for O'Brien. UCLA's Offense has been one of the best in the country the past couple of years (since we rebuilt our roster fro the 57 scholarship players Kelly had his first year.

Kelly has had 2 main issues at UCLA.

1) he's not much of a recruiter. He's much better at finding coal and turning them into diamonds. But that's not easy in the trenches and our DL depth in particular has been an issue, but also OL, where we keep moving our DT's to (which, push comes to shove, OL is far more important than DL, because a good blitz scheme and/or loading the box can overcome physical deficiencies at DL, but OL makes everything on offense go at a higher level.

2) the defense has been way too soft and leaves way too many gaps in pass coverage. Some of this has to do with the DL deficiencies, but a lot of it is scheme. IMHO, with as good an offense as Kelly has, playing a bend but don't break style of defense is a bad fit. Play aggressive and get off the field to stay fresh, and live with a big play or two while the offense piles up points and puts pressure on the other team's offense to keep up. However, the Defense is greatly improved from the late Mora years - in particular, players are in position to make tackles, and then actually make them, which wasn't the case in the late Mora years (see above re: UConn-Fresno).

The Defensive changes the past year (new Coordinator, new assistants, including Norton Jr.) can actually fix both. But will UCLA fans be patient enough? I personally hope so. My feeling is that Kelly is doing a very good job of building a foundation for ongoing success in a similar style to what most programs would kill for - Utah's Kyle Whittingham. Kelly just didn't get to start with an Urban Meyer roster and it has take time to get here.

And on Friday, we'll see whether the defense can step up. Thus far this season, it doesn't appear to have clicked as a scheme with the new players. However, v. Colorado, while there were some seriously busted coverages, mostly covered up by pressure on a Freshman QB, I did see that it appeared as if our LB corps were finally getting their heads into the game, in particular our alleged stud transfer MLB Muasau.

UCLA has always had some recruiting issues - West Coast linemen pool isn't deep, and can't always get admitted to UCLA, but, it's also UCLA - minutes from the Beach, in SoCal with one of the best educations you can get. It should practically recruit itself.

I would love for you to take O'Brien off our hands.... but I can't recommend him in good faith.

Pyperkub wrote: ↑Thu Sep 29, 2022 12:21 pm Utah's Kyle Whillingham

Whittingham.

The transfer portal is fascinating to watch. For every player who heads to greener pastures and thrives, it feels like there's another 20 who simply end up buried on a depth chart somewhere else. Utah (and every team, I assume) has had a huge number of highly touted recruits that didn't see the field here, jumped ship (with much wailing and gnashing of teeth from the fans), then were simply never heard from again.

We've been the recipient of some of those as well. Dudes come in with all the "OMG, we're getting a 4-star recruit from USC!" hype, then end up doing nothing. Perfect example was Charlie Brewer last year. Came in with all the hype from Baylor and was going to save Utah's season, played three games (and sucked), got benched, quit, and heads to Liberty where he's now third string.

The grass is not always greener, kids.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Thu Sep 29, 2022 12:50 pm

Pyperkub wrote: ↑Thu Sep 29, 2022 12:21 pm Utah's Kyle Whillingham

Whittingham.

The transfer portal is fascinating to watch. For every player who heads to greener pastures and thrives, it feels like there's another 20 who simply end up buried on a depth chart somewhere else. Utah (and every team, I assume) has had a huge number of highly touted recruits that didn't see the field here, jumped ship (with much wailing and gnashing of teeth from the fans), then were simply never heard from again.

We've been the recipient of some of those as well. Dudes come in with all the "OMG, we're getting a 4-star recruit from USC!" hype, then end up doing nothing. Perfect example was Charlie Brewer last year. Came in with all the hype from Baylor and was going to save Utah's season, played three games (and sucked), got benched, quit, and heads to Liberty where he's now third string.

The grass is not always greener, kids.

Fixed (needed more coffee this morning! Kelly has been doing pretty well with the portal ( a number of our transfers are on NFL rosters, and Charbonnet will be there too), but it's not sustainable. One bad class of transfers if you're dependent will kill you - a solid recruiting base is necessary too.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Thu Sep 29, 2022 12:50 pm

Pyperkub wrote: ↑Thu Sep 29, 2022 12:21 pm Utah's Kyle Whillingham

Whittingham.

The transfer portal is fascinating to watch. For every player who heads to greener pastures and thrives, it feels like there's another 20 who simply end up buried on a depth chart somewhere else. Utah (and every team, I assume) has had a huge number of highly touted recruits that didn't see the field here, jumped ship (with much wailing and gnashing of teeth from the fans), then were simply never heard from again.

We've been the recipient of some of those as well. Dudes come in with all the "OMG, we're getting a 4-star recruit from USC!" hype, then end up doing nothing. Perfect example was Charlie Brewer last year. Came in with all the hype from Baylor and was going to save Utah's season, played three games (and sucked), got benched, quit, and heads to Liberty where he's now third string.

The grass is not always greener, kids.

Spencer Rattler.

Also, re: talk about parity: Georgia seems to be in a completely different league than everyone else this year. They were great last year. They are greater this year.

Wow, I was not expecting this level of ass-kicking from the Bruins. Can't stay up for the end, but it's 33-10 as I write this.

Next week could be very fun, assuming Utah doesn't gack the game away tomorrow against OSU.